“Unbuilding”, by Bob Falk and Brad Guy

Falk, Robert H., and Brad Guy. Unbuilding: Salvaging the Architectural Treasures of Unwanted Houses. Newtown, CT: Taunton, 2007. Print.

Another great Taunton press book.  The authors write passionately about the benefits of reusing not just fixtures and windows, but lumber and planks from old houses.  If a house isn’t important enough to be saved, they argue, at least all of it doesn’t have to go into a landfill site. By the end of the first chapter I was convinced that this was another item to add to my long list of things I want to do someday.

The rest of the book, fortunately for my husband, showed me just how much work is involved.  They talk about both “soft stripping” – taking just easily removed items like lighting and cabinets – and total teardowns.  Safety is a big concern that is comprehensively covered here.  They also stress logistics and being organized – down to the level of detail of where best to put your dumpster (not everything can be saved, of course, and the shingles are something that need to be disposed of early).  Sources of light (the power to the house must be turned off, and the hydro company needs to be involved), water, and toilet facilities have to be figured out.  There will be enough piles of materials that a city lot can’t hold everything until you’re done, so there has to be a steady stream of pick-ups.  One of the little details has stuck in my mind – every board that’s salvaged must be de-nailed, which means you will have a “de-nailing station” with at least two people manning it.  That’s a lot of hard work.

Between the chapters are profiles of “Unbuilding Pioneers”, people who have been salvaging for a while, and how they got started.  These are oddly not listed in the table of contents.

There’s an index and a list of websites, but not a bibliography – which probably reflects the fact that this book is unique.